All About Pocket Knives

I contacted the seller last week about this knife, he has it listed as MOP when it’s cracked ice Celluloid. I pointed out to him that it is out gassing and that was what had caused the damage to the handle but more importantly the damage to the backspring. Briefly he put a note on this at the bottom of the listing. He had a single bid at the time and that must have changed the mind of the bidder. Now it’s relisted and still says MOP and nothing about the out gassing. He also has a Fighting Rooster knife that must have been stored next to this from the apparent damage it has on it, see pictures. Since the seller won’t address these issues, I thought I would put a word of warning here for anyone looking for research. I hope my assessment of this was correct?
Here is a link to the auction: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bulldog-Brand- ... SwT59dlStN

Wow...sad they reposted. Clearly outgassing. Someone spending over $40, with no returns.

From the pics, it looks like genuine MOP to me. It's possible this knife was stored close to a cell gasser and thats what caused the damage.

The celluloid used on knives made in 1970's-'90's is particularly unstable. The celluloid on vintage knives from before WW II is more stable but can still break down. There are quite a few cell handled knives from around 1900 that still show no sign of off gassing.
I think it is best to avoid all of the cell handled knives from 1970's and newer.
kj

For some reason I can't expand the pictures.
But from what I can see it looks like real MOP.
It also doesn't appear to be outgassing. Looks to me the damage is from something else??

Definitely genuine MOP. The damage is more than likely caused by storing with other knife/knives, than were not stable

Tom

If you have ever held a cracked ice and a MOP knife side by side you can barely sees the difference . With Bulldog they are particularly hard to tell the difference , here I have posted one of each MOP and Cracked Ice Celluloid. Tell me if you can tell me, which one is which.
The Bulldog in the original post is cracked ice Celluloid. That dark area on the handle is the Celluloid breaking down and it’s bleeding over onto the back-spring.

I think the top knife is the cell, some scale shrinkage around the bolsters.

I agree bottom knife is real MOP.

Got it right the first time both of you. Some of these cracked ice Celluloids look a lot like pearl and it’s hard to tell, especially for someone who doesn’t handle a lot of knives.

The OP knife is mother of pearl.

Hi,

I have to agree with Tom, the handle material is genuine mop. The knife is a true 1st gen, is rare, and is an unlisted variation of a Bulldog Club Knife. The master blade etch should read Bulldog Club Knife not Pit Bulls Trademark. In my short experience with celluloid deterioration, the steel turns black with pits. The knife appears to have rust which leads me to believe that moisture is the culprit not gassing. If my thoughts are bunk, please let me know. Thank you for your time.

My guess is this MOP knife was kept next to a cell that gassed out, like a pin pulled on a grenade. Just my 2 cents.

zeke8 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 12, 2019 6:08 pm Hi,

I have to agree with Tom, the handle material is genuine mop. The knife is a true 1st gen, is rare, and is an unlisted variation of a Bulldog Club Knife. The master blade etch should read Bulldog Club Knife not Pit Bulls Trademark. In my short experience with celluloid deterioration, the steel turns black with pits. The knife appears to have rust which leads me to believe that moisture is the culprit not gassing. If my thoughts are bunk, please let me know. Thank you for your time.

Outgassing celluloid can cause blades and springs to rust.

Thank you David. From my experience with out gassing, the damage I have seen is identical to this and what you see on the Fighting Rooster Knife posted. I have seen rust form on the bolsters right along the edge where it touches the handle and etching on blades that is rust colored and not black.
My question now is: why is there a dark spot in the front handle scales if this is MOP? That dark spot is right over the rust and pitting in the backspring. Either the pitting caused the handle to discolor or it is the source of the pitting and rust on the backspring. I have never seen MOP discolor from rust before, has anyone else? If so, could you post some pics? It would be educational for me and perhaps others as well.